Am I just being far too idealistic when I say that the majority of the population nowadays has a deep level of respect for the police? Are we all proud of the fact that we live in one of the most liberal and tolerant societies in the world and recognise that a huge proportion of these positive aspects of life can only be achieved by way of having a police force that primarily does an excellent job? Alas, I would have to admit that this is far from the case for many people.
To start this discussion, we really do have to face facts and acknowledge that no public body in our country is anywhere near perfect! When thousands of people work for any kind of organisation, there will always be an element of human error. Furthermore and especially where the police force is concerned, the wrong type of person will be recruited as an officer from time to time: an individual who is too gung ho and ‘jobs worth’ perhaps, or simply does not have the right attitude for such a role of responsibility in the first place. No matter what our attitude is toward the police, this is something that simply cannot be denied or ignored.
The riots back in the Summer of 2011 made many of us question the current levels of respect for the police. When tens of thousands of anarchistic rioters were purposefully disrespecting the police and carrying out criminal damage and even looting shops – it is clear to see that these individuals had zero respect for the police within their communities. However, some might argue that this was more of a rebellion against the executive of this country – the government; especially in light of the fact that the coalition have been forced to introduce a swathe of cuts to control our economy and we all feel as though we have so much less money in our pockets than we did only a few years ago.
Then, we need to look at the actual areas where these riots tended to take place. The main areas were in and around communities where it is known that there are strong multi-cultural factors at work. Often, such communities feel as though they are specifically targeted by their local police force; indeed many might go as far as stating that they feel victimised at times.
Some people believe that the lack of respect for the police in these areas of the country may even stem from the fact that there are large populations of immigrants in these neighbourhoods, who have come from other countries where the local police forces would have been downright corrupt. It would be nigh on impossible to teach these people any degree of respect for the police in their new country, when they may have lived in complete fear of the law enforcement officers that were at work in their previous homeland.
Do we now live in a country where the previous class divides are no longer prevalent? Absolutely not! Anyone who would dare to seriously suggest such a thing (and some idiots have in the past!) would have to be on very strong hallucinogenic drugs to even make such an observation. The class system is still in play across the United Kingdom and it will always be. This is also very pertinent when it comes to the levels of respect for the police and this in another fundamental criterion for why the August riots tended to be concentrated in certain areas of the country.
By and large, it may well be fair to say that the police force enjoys a level of respect that is far higher than it was in the past. They work hard to engage with different areas of the community and there is a much stronger requirement for the police officers to deal with everyone in a fair and polite manner at all times. There will always be the people who break the law and have done wrong in the past that will never have any degree of respect for the police – but many would argue that their opinion is invalid.
Realistically, we need to appreciate the fact that the police force does an excellent job in our country and that they can certainly take some of the credit for helping the United Kingdom become one of the most envied nations in he world for its tolerant and open-minded attitude. After all, why on earth are people from all other countries of the world literally breaking their necks to move here?
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